Why Not "Send In The Troops?"

Not Simple Facts But Simple Truth

Townhall Magazine

The failure of Democrat Governors and Mayors makes it very difficult for the Federal Government to help. The devil is in the details. 

Click on this Link to see the article.

"Bottom Line: All in all, sending military forces into a non-permissive environment in a blue city is a recipe for disaster."

".......... What do the troops actually do [without local approval and support]? Patrol? Got to wait on our vehicles. Do they go arrest looters? For what? If the looters violate federal law – like crossing a state line to riot – that’s easy. You hook them up, turn them over to the federal cops and the US attorney prosecutes them. But what if they commit a state crime, which most routine crimes are? In LA ‘92, we grabbed a crook and handed him over to the LAPD and he went to jail and got prosecuted. But the Portland police will be ordered not to cooperate. Moreover, the Portland DA will not charge them, much less prosecute them. What do you do with them? How do the feds hold a rioter for a state crime that he is not charged with?........"

Post Office Facts - What’s The Hoopla All About?

So Trump is Closing the Post Office to Prevent Voters from Voting. NOT.

SIMPLE FACTS

• The US Post office moves 450 million pieces of mail every day. That is over 13 billion pieces of mail each month.
• The total votes cast in a presidential election are 125 million. If every vote in the United States was cast by that would be less than 2% of monthly mail volume. (Ballots are mailed mostly on same day, even though each state may be different, but are returned through several weeks prior to the election.
• Under NO circumstances, will every vote case be sent through the mail. A generous estimate would be 1/2 of all votes cast.
• The US Postal service has run substantial deficits every year for more than ten years and lost over $8 billion in last fiscal year.
• 1st class mail volumes have decreased over 25% in last nine years. Trump appointed an executive to right size the Post Office expenses.
• 14,000 mail boxes were removed since 2009 for reasons explained by President Obama in 2009. 
• Current financial shortfalls are not expected to impact operations until next year (after election.)
• Congress has repeatedly blocked efforts to address financial challenges (see below.)
• Democrats lie about everything. 

More facts from Liberty Laura:

https://www.facebook.com/1610844859198173/posts/2731647897117858/

The Post Office is an independent agency, managed by a board of directors, but subject to congressional control. There is a long history of attempted cost-savings measures, by Post Office executives, which eventually get blocked by lawmakers in Congress. Classic. 

Example 1: Whenever the Post Office tries to close rural office locations (an effort with potential cost-savings of $500 million/year), congressmen object. "If you want to watch a Congressman flip out, suggest closing a rural post office in his district," they say.

Example 2: In 2013, the agency tried to save $2 billion by adjusting its delivery schedule, yet Congress continued to mandate six-day service. 

Example 3: The Post Office cannot increase prices on letters and junk mail more than the rate of inflation, because of a law passed by Congress. Even the Post Office has complained about this one, saying, "Most of the Postal Service’s business is subject to a rigid price cap unlike anything faced by private companies."

Example 4: In 2006, Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, which requires the Post Office to pay billions every year for future retiree health benefits (not pensions), something no other agency does.

Sources: 
1. https://bit.ly/2Q2YRZ3
2. https://bit.ly/2Q2Z1j7
3. https://bit.ly/2Q6OVxr
4. https://bit.ly/2Y9OxD8
5. https://bit.ly/3kOUleZ

WSJ: School Closures Damage the Youngest Children

 

By Christine K. VanDeVelde

In the contentious debate over opening schools, there is almost no mention of the youngest learners—children 2 to 5, who attend day care, nursery schools or prekindergarten programs. That’s a terrible omission. What those children need to accomplish can’t be done in isolation or in front of a laptop, and it has to be done during a brief developmental window that closes around age 5 and never opens again.

The learning needs of the youngest students in pre-K programs are easy to underestimate, because their schoolwork consists of playing together— pretending to be a princess or a superhero, playing house, digging in the sand to create a dinosaur park. Just as older students must work to succeed, pre-K pupils must play, and they must play with each other. As the developmental psychologist Jean Piaget put it, “Play is the work of childhood.”

Will Trump or Any President Cancel Social Security? No!

Political divisiveness is rampant in the media and internet websites. Some stories are promoted by political parties/groups and some may be supported by foreign interests.

Here is what you should be sure of. Trump will never support “getting rid of Social Security.” No one in Congress will vote for that even if any President wanted to.

Recently, Trump DID SAY he wanted to get rid of the “payroll tax” which primarily partially funds Social Security. That reflects his view (shared by many over the years) that the payroll tax (15% of wages) is very unfair and regressive. That applies to the first $137,700 of wages irrespective of income. Therefore, someone making $25,000 pays the same 15% as someone making $250,000. In fact, higher incomes stop paying above the threshold. Many economists feel it has become unfair.

Currently, those taxes are earmarked for Social Security. In the Federal Budget, all the funds are commingled. Future planned benefits cannot be paid out of funds set aside. There are not enough funds and those funds are not segregated. It has been a long standing fraud on Americans to suggest SS benefits were safely set aside. They simply are not.

What Trump wants to do (and has always said so) is to fix an unfair tax, and, find a way to honor the commitment to beneficiaries.

Any reasoned analysis of Social Security shows there are long standing problems with paying these benefits. It has to be fixed. Like many issues, Trump wants to fix it even though it will be hard and want to be avoided by the politicians that created the mess.

For my friends who are in Illinois, the pension crises for state and local employees in Illinois is much much worse due to chronic bad policies regarding excessive pension benefits, state budgets and funding. While Illinois is only one state, the lack of funding to pay pensions to state employees is almost as large as the unfunded benefits in Social Security.

Details:
15% payroll tax for Social Security and Medicare is jointly paid by both employee and employer.

The max income threshold of $137,700 applies to SS tax (called FICA) and there is no cap on Medicare tax.)

COVID 19 Stimulus - Round 4; Horse Trading is Good for America

Attached below is an article the reviews the attempted horse trading going on with trillions of your tax dollars. The US Budget for the fiscal year ended Sept 30 2019 was just over $4 trillion (that is $4,000 billion.) Even in fiscal 2019, the Federal government borrowed additional debt of nearly $3 trillion. So with the stimulus payments this year, Federal spending could easily approach $6 trillion and what is being proposed or "negotiated" is an additional $1 to $3 Trillion. 

The concerns with previous stimulus is that some payments were clumsily provided and the substantial unemployment benefits incentivized some not to return to work. Readers should know that the average unemployment benefits per week were about $330. The CARES Act increased that to $930 per week with an addition $600 per week. That combination of state unemployment benefits and CARES act provided such large benefits that some workers preferred to stay home rather than return to work. Many receiving those benefits were being paid more than "many essential workers" that were showing up to serve Americans during the Pandemic. 

This is a typical ideological conflict that is common place. Dems always want more hand outs, even when excessive, to curry favor with voters. Repubs are willing to help the needy but do not want to create incentives that are counter productive. 

Like most policy disputes in Washington there are easy pragmatic solutions if elected leaders did what is best for Americans. But they don't. 

A Simple Truth solution is to taper benefits down to zero in a few months to encourage everyone to return to work. Say continue for two months at $500 per week.. then two months at 300 per week and then drop to $100 per week after four months for another 6-12 months.

There are other issues in dispute but the Simple Truth is there are pragmatic solutions. Another key dispute is over Federal bail outs for states that have wrought havoc on financial position due to long standing unsound financial practices and flawed lockdown decisions. These are democrat run states like California, Illinois, New York and New Jersey. 

But "we" elect too many to Congress that care more about their political future than doing what is best for America. Let them know how you feel. No more horse trading.

Here is the Article that provides a recap the breakdown in "negotiations."

Here is a link to the Federal Budget with actual data about spending.

Do Government Scientists Own an Interest in Moderna COVID 19 Vaccine

It is well documented that Anthony Fauci has made encouraging remarks about the Moderna Covid 19 vaccine currently in Phase 3 Trials. There have been reports in the media that Fauci will reap a financial reward if the vaccine proves effective and is used throughout the US and the World. 

A cursory review of literature did not reveal evidence from a credible source that Fauci may have an interest. That could be important if he was knowingly "fanning the flames" of fear to make the vaccine more essential and valuable. With a financial incentive, he may also be discouraging therapeutic treatments that would reduce the risks of the virus and thereby lessen the fear that many have had. 

SF&ST did not find evidence that was credible of Fauci having a direct financial interest. However, Americans should be alert to future revelations. Some of the source documents available were redacted to conceal the interests of NIH (National Institute of Health - Fauci's organization) scientists. Reports of current US law state that scientists working for the government may receive a financial reward for their intellectual property while working for the US Government but it is limited to $150,000 per year. The four NIH scientists were not identified. It was clear from patent applications that the US Government did share in the ownership of the vaccine under development and provided substantial funding. 

For more information - see this link:

Here is the link to an article with credibility and links to actual documents from "Public Citizen." 

Hysteria About COVID 19? Look at this!

Why Do Teachers Unions Want to Shut Down Schools? Easy Answer

Answer: Defeat Trump in Election

It is that simple. By keeping schools closed, Democrats and Teachers Unions are disrupting families, business, the economy, and, the election campaign. Democrats and their supporters will do anything to defeat Donald Trump.

A reader does not have to support Trump to recognize how insidious this effort is. Teachers unions have a long history of promoting their political agenda over the interest of kids and families.

Captive Mind And Resegregation; Wall Street Journal; August 3, 2020

Editor Comment - this is one of the more effective discussions about what is happening in America and why we need to stand up in opposition. I have excerpted much of the article below:

"Idol smashing and cancel culture are part of a broad ideological project to dominate society."

"Czesław Miłosz, a future Nobel Prize-winning poet who had just defected from Poland, began work in 1951 on a book called “The Captive Mind.” Even as Stalinist totalitarianism tightened its grip on Eastern Europe, many Western European intellectuals lauded the brave new world of Soviet communism as a model for overcoming “bourgeois forces,” which in their view had caused World War II. Living in Paris, Miłosz wrote his book, which was published in 1953, to warn the West of what happens to the human mind and soul in a totalitarian system.

Climate Change Scam: UN Official Confirms our Worst Fears; Media Silent

Once again, another senior government official or high-ranking scientist in the “man-made global climate change” crowd has come out and admitted the “science” is, at best, sketchy — and the data corrupt and manipulated.

And, once again, it’s a story that should be a blockbuster, yet has been flatly ignored by the mainstream media, whom many believe to be complicit in this worldwide ruse.

See entire article by clicking on the following link: 

Link to News Article on Allen B West

Dignity in Political Debate - Why it is Important and Becoming Rare

“We are becoming a society incapable of having debates,”

Below is a link to a video link of an eloquent speech on the need for dignity in political debates. Something for all US Citizens and government officials to consider. Please watch and Share.

Voter Fraud, Suppression & Poor Turnout

Here is a great article regarding concerns with voter fraud, suppression and hacking.  I have excerpted a portion of the entire article which is relevant to the media hysteria regarding Russian activities. It is simpler to believe the Russians changed the results of the Presidential election,  but that belief is not a simple fact.

Three key facts:
1- Whoever gained access to DNC emails or John Podesta emails only revealed what our politicians thought in private. If that impacted voters, maybe it was properly relevant to voter choices. The key "hack" only accessed private emails which showed these private conversations.

2- A significant number of eligible voters in America did not vote at all. Some protesters have admitted they did not vote. Over 30% of eligible voters did not participate.

3- Many votes were cast by voters with limited information about important issues. Voter misinformation resulted from media bias, poor knowledge of history and civics, lack of effort to be informed, and "fake news."

Below is a valuable excerpt on voter fraud and suppression. Consider reading entire article in the link.

Holding the Media Accountable for Bias

The media apologists are out in full force, outraged over the recent "President-Elect" tongue lashing given to some in the media. While there are no official reports about the meeting, other media outlets have whined about PEOTUS "clearing the air". The point of this analysis is not to defend PEOTUS but simply point out the role of the media in our public discourse. Here are the Simple Facts:

Did We All Fail when the Bridge Collapsed?

First, let me express sympathy for the families that are missing their loved ones in Minnesota.

The possible cracks in the Minnesota bridge reveal the cracks in our democracy that risk the collapse of what we cherish.


I would stand at the front of the line defending our system of government. Yet, it has its deficiencies. Like cracks in a bridge, our system has cracks that we may have noticed in an inspection, but, fail to repair.

The news accounts now inform us that the Minnesota bridge was "structurally deficient" similar to thousands of other bridges that we drive on. Tonight's news revealed that reports in 2005 and 2006 revealed serious concerns. These same cracks were viewable in New Orleans. Also in the anti-terrorism group in Washington. These cracks are clearly visible in our education system (i.e. drop out rates, education achievement, school violence, and poor college persistence).

Defending Don Imus???? Not me

This blogger would never defend Don Imus. Nor any other mouthpieces of slime that exist on the airwaves. The world would be a better place with less of them and more decorum.

However, I am troubled by the piling on that is occurring. Many can easily chastise Mr. Imus, but remain silent and out of sight when other mainstream commentators call for our President's assasination, death to the vice president and demands for annialation of Americans coming from the middle east.

We seem to have lost our moral compass. We no longer know right from wrong. As one analyst said, either it is all ok, or it is all not ok. It would be greatly preferable if there was more simple decency in the world and more self-restraint. It is preferable for the mainstream media to have the common sense and fairness to expect more, expect decency and to denounce all forms of hate speach.

And another thing. Are attacks on Imus being used by some to perpetuate the dieing myth of racism in America today? Perhaps. For sure there are still racists in the America. But racism has long ago slipped from the fiber of many Americans. Now these many Americans want desperately to be fair and be sure that every chance is given to those deserving of it.

But. Where would the defenders of minorities be today without a villain like Imus? Where would they be without the ugly head of racism to drag through the streets? They might have to take up a new crusade to teach decency, hard work, self-responsibility, learning and initiative. But do they know how to teach that? Could they perform that task? There is the question that leads to the simple truth.